REFERENDUM IMPORTANT FOR MAKING FUTURE DECISIONS IN SRPSKA

BANJA LUKA, AUGUST 13 /SRNA/ - Academician Vitomir Popović has assessed that the upcoming referendum in Republika Srpska is extremely important for making future decisions and achieving Serb national interests and goals.

Popović told SRNA that public opinion will express its position in the referendum, even though it cannot change the verdicts or produce another result in the context of the rulings made and the removal of the mandate from President of Srpska Milorad Dodik. He noted that what is currently happening is not only a gross violation of the constitutions of Republika Srpska and BiH, but also of the highest standards within international conventions regulating elections. "This also involves a violation of domestic sources of law, primarily the Election Law," said Popović, who is a university professor and a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Republika Srpska. He reiterated that the process against President Dodik was politically staged from the very beginning. Popović emphasized that a legally elected president can only be replaced by those who elected him. He believes it is high time for all factors in Republika Srpska to think carefully about everything, draw appropriate conclusions, remain steadfast, and define what the Serbian national interest is above all. "That interest is the independence of Srpska, when the conditions for it are created one day. But that is by no means the transfer of republican competences to the level of BiH or acceptance of decisions imposed by certain representatives of the international community," said Popović. He stressed that unity among Serb political and other factors is as necessary now as daily bread. Popović pointed out that the goal of foreigners is to have as many smaller parties as possible, as this increases the possibility of controlling them. "It will also make it harder to reach agreements and express what we call Serbian national unity, the achievement of national interests and goals in every respect, including the acquisition of Srpska's independence," Popović stressed. Regarding the achievement of unity among Serbian political actors, Popović said he cannot believe that certain so-called representatives of the people, having won a small number of votes in the elections, rush to obtain ministerial positions at the BiH level. "There are such people, and there will be in the future. They will be the `greatest allies` of foreigners whose goal is to partition what Republika Srpska or Serbia are today. These are well-known methods in the history of all nations," Popović said. Following the ruling of the unconstitutional Court of BiH against the President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik, a referendum is expected to be held in Srpska on the basis of a decision by the National Assembly.